Biting the Bullet
by M2S
Summary: Gil and Cath ditch a seminar in Atlanta for an unusual ant specimen related to a death in upstate SC. Complete case file (my first). No pairings. Some Gil angst.
1. Welcome to SC

A/N - My first attempt at a chapter story and a case file. Please read and let me know how I am doing!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em - just having a good time.

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Chapter 1 - Welcome to South Carolina

Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows had just crossed over the state line from Georgia into South Carolina. Traffic on I-85 was quick to say the least. The pick up truck they were following exited at Exit Two. Catherine was not impressed by the hilly terrain or the deciduous trees lining the empty two-lane highway.

"God, you can't see more than a quarter mile in front of you. Is there nothing flat about this place?" she fussed from the passenger seat. She punched buttons on the rental's radio, finally finding a station she could stomach. She and Gil usually didn't listen to the radio when they rode together; their music styles were too dissimilar. This time they had alternated each thirty minutes. It had made the almost two hour drive from Atlanta a little more bearable.

"Do I need to stop and get you a candy bar?" Grissom asked in a pressed lip smile. He knew how she could get when she wasn't getting her way and her blood sugar was too low. They had worked together enough in the years past for him to know more about her than he ever would have wanted. "And I think this area is very beautiful. You've just been in the desert too long."

"Yeah, well, Atlanta was one thing. Hooterville here is another," she replied testily, pointedly looking at a small, sad singlewide trailer on the side of the highway. "And what are we doing here again? Why are we ditching the last few days of seminars that LVPD is paying for? I mean, we could have at least ditched them to stay in Atlanta and go out," she said, knowing that getting Gil to ditch seminars for going out would have been harder than getting her to ditch seminars for, well, Hooterville. He gave her a pursed lipped, disapproving look that she knew very well.

"We are in Cherastowee County, not Hooterville. And I told you, I was impressed with the deputy that asked my advice," he said, adding, "I am pretty sure the antdescribed is a Bullet Ant." He was excited.

"And you're thrilled over this, why?" Catherine asked, a bit sarcastically. Gil and his bugs were something she accepted, but didn't entirely understand.

"Bullet ants are native to South and Central America. Carnivorous, poisonous, and hard to raise in captivity. There are a few colonies in zoos around the US, but none in the Southeast. If that is what this specimen turns out to be, it might make a simple case of allergic reaction into something more."

Catherine thought his tone was positively giddy. She shook her head and grinned at her friend and colleague. Her grin died as Grissom followed the pickup into a Days Inn. It was not exactly like the Radisson she had left in Atlanta.

The deputy who got out of the pickup truck and walked over to their rented Taurus had been a surprise to Catherine. When Grissom had announced his intention of coming up to South Carolina, he had mentioned Deputy Mel Lawrence. Catherine had immediately thought of some tall, rawboned farm hand, with a reddish coloring and sandy blond hair. When she had met Deputy Lawrence at the hotel, she had been very surprised. It turned out that it was Deputy Melissa Lawrence.

Mel was a short woman. Catherine thought she might be 5'4", and put her weight at about 150 lbs, though it was a muscular 150 lbs. She reminded Catherine a bit of Serena Williams, the tennis player. She had a muscular frame, but a lot of t&a to boot. As a dancer, Catherine had gotten used to sizing up the other girls, and while Mel was nothing like the gals at the strip club, Catherine sized her up as well.

Deputy Lawrence moved quietly, but not gracefully. Her powerful arms and legs were at odds with the curvy figure that appeared somehow caged by the navy slacks and button up oxford shirt she was weary. Her hair was cropped short and dyed a shocking blond. At first she thought Mel was a lesbian, given the hair and gruff manner, but there was something in the way she had looked at Griss that caught Catherine off guard. It seemed that Catherine wasn't the only one sizing people up.

"I know this isn't quite what you are probably used to, but it's the nicest we've got in town. The nicest hotel in the area is about 20 minutes away, but it's at the college, and there's a concert tonight. Pretty booked," Deputy Mel said apologetically. "There's a Wal-Mart and shopping down this road about half a mile. Lot's of drive-thru windows, a Mexican restaurant and pretty good Italian place, if you are needing anything to eat.

"I figured I would come by and pick you up tomorrow morning. I am not supposed to be back on shift until 3:00 pm tomorrow afternoon, so that will give us some time to let you see the specimen I was telling you about." She shifted a little nervously. "I really hope I haven't wasted your time by bringing you up here," she said, looking especially at Catherine.

Catherine couldn't get over the thick accent. She had been around Nicky, with his Texan accent coming through particularly thick at emotional times, but that was nothing compared to this. She thought about her comments to Gil earlier on Hooterville, because this girl's dialect came straight out of central casting for "hillbilly".

"I don't thick you're wasting our time Deputy. I am particularly excited to see the specimen myself," Gil said. Catherine had to try hard not to roll her eyes at him.

"Good. I appreciate it. I will come by and pick y'all up at 0800 tomorrow morning. We can go over to the department and check it out," she said. Though the girl hadn't smiled, Catherine could tell that she was relieved that the two of them had not gone off screaming at the sight of the Days Inn.

"Breakfast is on me," the deputy said out of her truck window as she cranked the vehicle and drove off.

"Do you think she's going to make us eat some kind of pork belly or something in the morning?" Catherine asked Gil, smirking. "0800 hours. I am going to kill you," she added. It was Gil's turn to smirk.

"You could have stayed and listened to that same presentation on splatter as Charlie from Dallas gave last time," he said, knowing that Catherine knew as much or more about blood splatter.

"Yeah, well, last time you went off to some hick town without me, I ended up doing all of your paperwork. And as I recall, you were almost shot, so you'll be thanking me later," she said. She had been referring to the time Gil had gone to Jackpot, Nevada in search of a body to go with a dismembered head that had been sent to him by the locals.

"Let me just go ahead and thank you now," he said, knowing that there had been a couple of times when Catherine had saved his butt. He was glad she had decided to come here with him. He was not a man with many friends, but somehow he and Catherine had become friends over the years, and good friends at that. Her being swing shift supervisor had put some unexpected tension in their relationship.

"Should I wake you in the morning?" he asked, as they each opened the doors to their hotel rooms.

"Yeah, well, you could try," she laughed, and they split up for the evening.


	2. The Specimen

Author's Notes: Thanks for the positive reviews! And no, this isn't a Gil/Cath pairing. I just love their working relationship (right up until "Weeping Willows" last night. That has thrown me into a quandry about this story, so we will just see where it goes. Suffice it to say, this takes place before Committed or Weeping Willows.) Also, Cherastowee County is a made up place, though I would like to think my other descriptions of the upstate of SC are accurate enough.

Disclaimer: Don't own em; just having fun.

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The next morning was gorgeous. Even Catherine had to admit that. The sky was bluer than she had ever seen in Vegas. The green of the trees was almost too much for her desert-hardened eyes to bear. Though it was mid-Spring, the heat was already in the air, and humidity that she just wasn't used to breathing. Gil was more chipper than usual, the result of finally being close to seeing the specimen that had teased him here in the first place. They were sitting in a small diner, if you could call it that. A hole in the wall would have been more appropriate. The folks sitting around her didn't do much to dispel the idea that she was in a hillbilly haven. The clientele was 90 male, and 90 of the males were wearing baseball caps and clothes that indicated they worked outside or in physical labor. Strangely, she didn't feel as if she were being eyed or give the once over. Maybe it was the fact that Mel was with them and wearing her uniform. Or maybe everyone was just too polite to look closely until they were leaving.

Grissom was talking animatedly, and she was only half listening, now picking at the remainders of what Mel had called a "cat head" biscuit. Catherine had been startled, until Mel had patiently explained that "cat head" referred to the enormous size of the biscuit. The deputy had a tomato and bacon biscuit; Catherine had followed suit, surprised at how good the combination was on the enormous, but fluffy and light, biscuit. Gil had tried something called a salmon egg biscuit, which turned out to be scrambled eggs with chunks of canned salmon. By the way he had eaten every last bit, she could only guess that it was good. She sipped on her coffee, wishing fervently that the acrid brew would magically turn into Greg's expensive Hawaiian. Alas, no genie to fulfill that here.

"So, we will head to the new law enforcement center from here. I am going to introduce you to our sheriff and then we can see the ant," Mel said, draining the last of her iced tea.

"I thought you weren't on duty until this afternoon," said Catherine, referring to the fact that Mel was wearing her khaki uniform and had picked them up in a large white Suburban that had been painted with "Cherastowee County Sheriff's Department". It had "Scene Investigation" in small blue letters on the back of the vehicle. Upon seeing the female deputy in her uniform, Catherine was once again struck by the impression that Mel's body was a combination of incongruent parts held together by the straining khaki fabric. It was sure that she seemed more comfortable in the uniform than she had in the civilian clothes she had worn the day before.

"Ah, Sheriff Doublon told me to go ahead and consider myself on the clock since this does have to do with an ongoing investigation," the young deputy said. At first Catherine had thought she was older, but she realized it was the stern countenance and the ultra blond hair. This girl wasn't much more than 25.

As they got into the vehicle in the parking lot, they encountered two more deputies.

"Hey Mel," the taller one said, stopping by the grill of the Suburban. "You working a double?"

"Yeah, I'll be on until 11:30. You?" she countered.

"Yeah. Me and the boys are going out after shift. You ought to stop by," he said. He had a friendly smile, but it was obvious that Mel was just another one of the boys to him.

"Might. I know better than to stand between y'all and the bar this time," she answered. He gave her a light shove on the arm and joined his partner, who had been waiting at the screened door going into the restaurant.

"So, I hope y'all enjoyed the breakfast," Mel said as she got into the truck.

"I don't think I've ever been quite so full," said Catherine, still trying to sip the acrid coffee into submission.

"I don't know that I have ever seen biscuits quite so big," said Gil. Catherine was surprised to see Deputy Mel actually smile at Griss. It really transformed her face. "She's smitten," Catherine thought, and chuckled to herself. She never understood the attraction other women had for Gil. He was a generally good-looking guy, though she felt the beard he wore these days made him look older. He was definitely not her type, and once other women had been around him for long, his antisocial entomological tendencies would usually let them know that he wasn't their type either. She thought briefly about Sara, and how Gil could have handled that differently, about how she had asked him to handle it differently. If Gil could have just thrown caution to the wind, maybe things would be a lot different. Maybe Sara wouldn't be such a loose cannon on some cases. Maybe she and Sara would be able to walk by each other with more than a stiff "hello" or nod of the head. But then, she and Sara were both grown women, and the tension between them was as much their own faults as anyone else's. Still, she would have liked to see Gil just go for it, for once. She thought the whole crew might have been better off for it.

It surprised her that Gil charmed Deputy Mel. It was obvious that the girl tried hard to fit in with what must be a good ol' boys club in the department. She wouldn't have thought an older, bug-loving man would have caught her eye. By now, Mel was describing the specimen for Gil for what must have been the hundredth time. Catherine decided to call and check on Nick and Warrick. She had left Nick in charge this time, and Warrick seemed a bit relieved at that. Gil had left Sofia in charge of nights; she was sure that had not gone over so well with his crew. Nick had said in a voice mail that he would be at work until 8 am, Vegas time. Catherine knew it must be rough if the boys were working doubles.

"Hey, Nicky, just checking up on you," Catherine said into the phone. She heard the Texan familiar chuckle come through on the other end. Her cell reception wasn't great out here in the boondocks, but she felt she was coming through OK.

"Sounds like we should be checking up on you," Nicky replied. "I tried to call you at your hotel and they said you had checked out. What exactly are you and Griss up to?" he asked. Catherine thought she heard Warrick's guffaw in the background, and what sounded suspiciously like Greg Sander's giggle.

"We're following up on a lead for someone Griss met at the seminar," Catherine answered, now sure that she could hear Warrick, Greg and even Sara in the background. "Why do I get the feeling you are having too good of a time without us there?" Griss turned to face her quizzically when he heard this end of the conversation.

"We're just at breakfast with the old buddies Cath. It's been a really rough week so far, so we made a command decision," Nick said.

"And that would be?"

"We decided to combine the swing and night into one shift this week. We've all been working doubles or at least one and a half's all week. We made Sofia the supervisor, so she would get stuck with the paperwork and signing for OT. Y'all haven't missed a damn thing," Nicky answered. She had heard the laughter around the table when it was mentioned that Sofia had to do the paperwork. It made her feel a bit wistful to hear the younger CSI's all having breakfast together again. She wondered if they were sitting at their usual table at the diner. She knew Greg probably had her old seat beside Warrick. Of course, maybe Greg would weasel in beside Sara and leave Nicky out in the cold.

"Yeah, well, you enjoy it while you can. We'll be back in a couple days," she said in warning. Nicky laughed at her tone.

"Sure Mom. We'll clean up. Promise. You'll never even know we had the kegger in your office," Nicky said, in a tone that belied the sarcastic words. She heard the laughter around the table again. After saying goodbye, she looked up to see Grissom with an eyebrow cocked in her direction.

"How are the kids?" he asked. She knew he didn't mean Lindsey.

"Well, it must be a doozy this week, because they have combined night and swing into one shift, and they are letting Sofia handle the supervisory stuff," she said, sighing. She was surprised when she saw a small smile at Grissom's lips.

"I am sure she is relishing the opportunity. And I am sure that Warrick and Nick are giving Greg a good education," he said. He smiled again. "It sounds like they've been fine without us."

"Yeah, they do." Privately, that worried Catherine a little. She had worked hard to get the supervisor position, and though she had made some big mistakes before, she felt she could do some good, but she hadn't exactly proven it to herself yet. She hadn't meant to ally herself with Ecklie against Gil when she and Sara had their blow up. She knew Ecklie had used her as an excuse to go after Gil. Too bad she had been too caught up in the job to realize it until it was too late. She was glad she and Gil had been able to work through the tension and come to the seminar together. It was just like old times – Butch and Sundance. She wondered how Sara would feel about being part of the "Hole in the Wall" gang.

They had arrived at a newly constructed law enforcement center. As they signed in, Catherine realized that all PD's whether county, city, or whatever, seemed to use the same crappy fluorescent lighting. Mel led them to what must have been the break room.

"Grab yourself some coffee, I'll be right back. I just need to check with Sheriff Doublon to see if he can meet with us."

Catherine turned to see Gil still trying to fasten his visitor's badge. She took it from him and quickly had it fastened to his breast pocket.

"How do you get along without me?" she asked.

"Well, at least Sofia's not here. She would have probably glued it on," Gil said. His eyebrows raised and his mouth bordering on a smile. They both heard the sheriff approaching before they saw him.

Here was the rawboned farm hand Catherine had imagined. The man looked to be 60 years old, but still looked to be in good shape, with light, graying hair and sparkling green eyes. He dwarfed his deputy as she trailed behind him.

"Welcome, welcome," he boomed, his voice seeming to echo over the halls of the center. "I'm Sheriff James Doublon. I excited that Deputy Lawrence was able to pull you away from the seminar in Atlanta. She tells me you are a real expert in insects, Dr. Grissom," the sheriff said, shaking Gil's hand. Gil winced slightly at the booming sheriff's grip. As he shook Catherine's hand, he was very easy.

"Well, sir, I am very excited. If Mel is right, this ant has no business being in the mountains of South Carolina," Gil said. This was the friendliest sheriff he had ever met, in or out of Las Vegas.

"When y'all get done, I want you to come by and talk to me a bit, if possible. Deputy Lawrence here had some ideas about the county doing a better job with crime scene investigations. While we don't have a huge budget, I wouldn't mind being able to do a better job of giving the DA an airtight case when I can."

As they followed Mel through the corridors of the building, Gil couldn't help grinning to himself.

"What's that look?" asked Catherine.

"I don't think I have ever met a sheriff that was so …" he was a bit lost for words.

"Not a total jackass?" said Catherine. Gil looked at her with a knowing smile.

"Here we are," announced the deputy, leading them into a small lab. Though this was a new building, this lab seemed crammed with all types of things. A couple of computers, microscopes, a sink, journals … it was as if someone had tried to make a 10 x 12 room into a total CSI lab. Mel walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a file and a small Plexiglas box. "This is it."

Inside the box was an ant approximately 24 cm long, almost an inch. Catherine thought it looked like a wingless wasp. It was a dark red, with powerful mandibles and a stocky look. Gil looked like a small boy on Christmas.

"Deputy Lawrence, what you have here is a _Paraponera clavata_, also known as hormiga bala or Bullet Ant. So called because the stings are the most painful known for any insect. These insects are typically found in Central and South America in rain forests. So how did you get in South Carolina?" Gil asked the specimen. The ant didn't reply.

Catherine had been poring over the crime scene photos and initial write up.

"This man was stung more than once," she stated. Mel shook her head in the affirmative.

"Yes ma'am. He had sting marks all over his body. The thing is, I am convinced that this body was moved. To me the lividity suggested that he had been laying face down …"

"But the crime scene photos show the body laying face up in the grass," Catherine said, interrupting her.

"Exactly."

"Do you have trace from the body? From the surrounding area?" Catherine asked. This case was starting to intrigue her. A moved body with stings from a tropical ant in the middle of a grassy field was not a normal case, even in Vegas. She couldn't imagine what it must be like for Mel to have it happen here in Podunk.

"I gathered everything that seemed pertinent. I also have his clothes. I should be receiving the autopsy report soon. The ME over in Greenville sent blood samples to SLED down in Columbia, so I should be getting those soon as well."

Catherine looked at Grissom expectantly. He didn't appear to have heard any of the conversation between her and the deputy. He was still looking at the ant.

"So where on the body did you find the ant? Or was it on the scene?" Gil asked. Deputy Mel blanched a little.

"It was actually in his mouth," she answered.

"So, someone bit the Bullet," Gil answered. Catherine could only groan.


	3. Into the Woods

Mel drove them to the scene of the body dump. That's how Grissom was thinking of it now. After looking closely at the crime scene photos, Grissom and Catherine were convinced that Deputy Lawrence was correct. Lividity indicated the body had been face down; the body was found face up.

Grissom was especially excited now that he had seen the ant specimen. Bullet ants were definitely not found in the southern United States andthey were not a breed easily kept in captivity. Cincinnati had a nice colony, as well as a back up colony, but he didn't know of any in the South. In fact, he had made a few calls this morning to find out whether he was correct or not. He hoped to be receiving some return calls soon.

The drive was long and tedious. Maybe it was just that he was anxious to get to the scene. Deputy Lawrence drove superbly up the curved mountain highway. He had let Catherine take the front seat, knowing that the climbing curves would get to her. To him it was no worse than the anticipatory climb of a roller coaster.

He was glad she had gotten interested in the crime. He had been a little apprehensive that this would be a wild goose chase. He would then have to listen to her sarcastic barbs all the way back to Vegas, and then back to the lab, since they both rode in his Denali to the airport. Once she had realized that the ant had no place in the southern mountains, she had gotten that familiar Catherine excitement. It was another puzzle for her to piece together. Though she was much more subjective than he, she was an excellent CSI. He wasn't sure how she was going to fare as a supervisor. He had never understood her blind ambition to achieve that status. He himself would have been content to remain a senior CSI; the supervisor bit had been thrust upon him.

Once he had become supervisor, he didn't really want to go back. He felt that the lab needed guys like him in those roles. People who understood that truth trumped all other cards, whether those cards were politics, emotions, or whatever. He had hoped that Catherine would join him in this system. The jury was still out. He remained hopeful.

Still, he had sincerely enjoyed having her on this trip with him. The fact was, even Gil Grissom needed back up, whether he liked to believe it or not. And Catherine had been that back up on more than one occasion. He liked to think that he had seen a similar relationship developing between Warrick and Sara before the split. They were the younger Butch and Sundance, with Warrick as Sundance. But those thoughts brought him back to Sara, which was a subject he avoided with himself whenever possible. And it never seemed quite possible.

The deputy turned the Suburban onto a small gravel road off of the mountain highway.

"Were you able to get any tire treads off of this road?" Catherine asked.

"Believe it or not, this is a well traveled road," said Mel. "We had possibles for ten vehicles, and most of those were partials at best," she said. As if to punctuate her point, an old CJ-5 Jeep came barreling up the road, white dust billowing behind it. Mel pulled as far to the right as she could; the Jeep did the same. Catherine sucked in a sharp breath as the two passed each other. It looked as though there couldn't be enough room.

"So, would someone have to know where this field was to dump the body?" Gil asked from the back seat.

"Well, anyone who hunts, anyone who has lived here for most of their lives. Most locals know about where the field is. I mean, they would have had to walk into it, or use a four wheeler. We found a lot of ATV tracks in the field and the surrounding woods. You have to remember, when we first found the body, we thought he had been stung by a bee or something and died in an allergic attack. The crime scene wasn't exactly treated as such at first," Mel explained.

"But you noticed the lividity," Catherine stated. Grissom thought that Deputy Mel blushed a little at that comment.

"Yes ma'am. It just looked odd to me. I'm not trained like you folks, but I've been attending seminars when I can, and reading the journals. I like to talk to those in the know. So when I saw the body, it didn't feel right. And then, when I noticed all the stings, and how large they were, I knew this wasn't someone who had happened up on a yellow jacket nest. The ant was the clincher. I've never seen anything like it before."

"So why wait for us? Wasn't there anyone in entomology that you could contact?" Catherine asked. Gil was surprised at this question. He had been so excited about seeing the ant for himself that he hadn't thought to ask if anyone else had attempted to identify it.

"I had tried to get someone from the university up here, but it's the beginning of summer session, and there hardly anyone but grad students, and they haven't been very responsive. I wanted someone to come to us ... I wasn't about to send that ant anywhere. So when I read up on Dr. Grissom, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask him about it. I was going to the seminar anyway." She glanced at Gil in the rear view mirror. "I do appreciate you both coming up here like this. Sheriff Doublon was impressed, and I feel like we are a little closer to getting to the bottom of the case." Gil smiled at her and was surprised at how quickly she averted her glance.

He liked the deputy. She was obviously smart, and had apparently taught herself about many aspects of crime scene analysis. When she had come up to him after his lecture on using an ant colony and flies to backdate a corpse found in a truck toolbox, he had been surprised when she asked him if his expertise only applied to forensic entomology.

"Why?" he had asked. She had gone on to describe the bullet ant in her very thick Southern accent. "Do you think you could identify it? Or does your expertise only apply to those bugs that feed on carcasses?" The way she had said it was almost like a gauntlet being thrown down. He knew now that she had not meant to offend. She was just blunt, like him. He had looked her up and down in his clinical way. She was short, but powerful, and the punky blond hair reminded him a bit of Sanders. It wasn't so much the look as it was that it was a statement of personality. Whereas Greg's was a statement of punkish disregard, Mel Lawrence's was a statement of serious individuality. For a person who so obviously tried to blend in with her male counterparts, her hair defined her as separate. She had offered to bring the specimen back with her the next day, but Gil decided he wanted to see the area where it was discovered as well. He had neglected to tell Catherine that little bit of information.

The deputy in question pulled the Suburban off of the gravel road, bringing Gil out of his reverie. They got out of the truck and faced a small trail through the spring growth of the forest.

"It's not much more than a quarter of a mile down this trail," Mel said. Catherine shot daggers at Gil. But if she could kill with her eyes, he would have been dead a long time before now, as would several others.

"Do you want me to carry you, Catherine?" Gil joked. Catherine had pulled her strawberry blond hair up into a loose ponytail and was getting a digital camera out of her bag.

"Oh, bite me, bug boy," she growled. Gil chuckled at her and followed Mel into the woods. Catherine quickly fell in step with him.

"Well, _P. clavata_ prefer nesting in first or secondary rain forest growth. I don't think that is what we have here," Gil said, looking around from the middle of a grassy field. The sun was getting high, and he could see sweat trickling down the sides of Mel's face. He could feel it on himself. Catherine looked cool, as always, but her increasing bitchiness told how hot she felt. The field was bordered on all sides with woods like they had walked through, thick with pines, poplars and oaks. They had surveyed the perimeter and then the field itself. Though Gil knew there was no way the Bullet ants were nesting here, they had proven it. There was no sign of the tropical ant anywhere.

Mel was talking on her cell phone. From the way she was holding one finger in the ear not connected to the phone, Catherine could tell she was fighting the reception on the mountain.

"So how did that ant get here? Or the body for that matter?" she said aloud to no one in particular.

"I don't think this field has anymore to tell us," said Grissom. She wanted to strangle him for making them even walk into it, but that would have taken more effort. She sat down on the ground, putting the case file copy out in front of her.

"So, a local fellow found the body and called it in," Catherine summarized. From the notes Mel has made on his subsequent interviews, he had no idea who the victim was. He's some kind of operator in a local manufacturing plant. Doesn't seem to have any connection to tropical insects."

"Yes, but did he have a connection to the victim?" Gil asked.

"Well, it looks like they went to the same technical college, but it was five years apart," she answered.

"If you looked at everyone in the county, quite a few have gone to that technical school," Mel interjected, having finished with her telephone conversation. "It's the only one within an hour's drive. I think that fellow just happened on the body."

"What was he doing out here?" Catherine asked as she put the file back together and stood up, absentmindedly brushing the seat of her pants.

"I think he was doing a bit of poaching; claims he was just walking the trails." Mel turned to face Grissom. "If y'all are ready, we'll head back down the mountain. As luck would have it, both the medical examiner's report and the tox screen from the State Law Enforcement Department have come in back at the office. And the sheriff wanted you to know that he'll have lunch waiting."

"Great," said Grissom. "I was just telling Catherine that I think we are done here anyway." The deputy nodded and stared across the field the trail they had walked from the vehicle.

"You can't be hungry already," said Catherine, still feeling full from the biscuit she had hours earlier.

"You know, I am really starting to like this southern hospitality," Gil answered.


	4. Ant Colony

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.

Author's Notes: All the information in this story about Bullet Ants was obtained easily on the web by searching "Bullet Ant".

* * *

"Oh my God. I can't eat any more," Catherine said, groaning and pushing her plate away. When they had arrived back at the department, the sheriff had been as good as his word. Gil, Catherine and Mel had lunch waiting on them in one of the conference rooms. Gil was looking sleepy as he took the last bite of what Mel had called Hummingbird cake.

"This sure beats egg salad from the deli," Gil said. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten like this, if he ever had. Baked ham, fresh green beans, sliced tomato, andmacaroni and cheese had been piled into the take out plates. If that wasn't enough, that Hummingbird cake had been wonderful. He thought about how fast that would have disappeared from the break room at the lab. Yes, that and a pot of Greg's coffee, and he could have handled a double shift easily.

"Mel, how do you eat like this all the time? First that biscuit, now this lunch," Cath said, standing and putting her containers in the trash. "I am going to gain 10 pounds by the end of the day."

"The sheriff eats like this everyday, not me," Mel said. "I am usually lucky to get my ham and cheese sandwich out of my cooler by 10 pm, much less get a whole meal for break." She too began picking up the remains of her lunch. Unlike Gil, she still had a whole piece of Hummingbird cake left. "I am going to go put this in the break room. I don't like coconut," she said, going out the door.

Catherine pulled out the coroner's report and tox screen. Gil was looking out the window of the office building. From here, you could see the shimmering green of the mountain. She followed his line of sight and thought about how foreign it seemed. It was beautiful, but there was almost too much color. Vegas was colorful, but it was all neon and costumes. The desert was colorful in it's own way. As strange as it seemed, this much green and blue seemed unnatural.

"So, now what Gil?" she asked. Gil blinked and turned to look at her. He sighed and clasped his hands together in his lap.

"Are you still mad at me for making you leave Atlanta?" he asked. She was surprised he was still thinking about that. The fact was, she was beginning to be intrigued. If Gil was right about this ant, how had the victim come to be stung, not once, but several times. And why had the body been moved?

"No. And you know that. I meant now what in terms of the case," she said, smiling. "You knew once I found out that body was moved, I was hooked."

"Yeah, I could see that look in your eye," he said, smiling himself. It was the most relaxed she had seen him in a while, and she thought she knew why. No supervisory crap, no politics, no Sara – it was just Gil getting to be a CSI about his favorite thing – bugs. She wondered how much longer he would stay in Vegas. She knew he got offers constantly. How much more would it take to lure him away from them? Would he even tell anyone? Would he even tell her? He had been her friend for a long time now. He had been one of the first CSI's to let her tag along on a case. They had taught each other a lot over the years, but somehow, they still seemed worlds apart.

"This is way better than Charlie's seminar on blood spatter," she conceded. Gil was still chuckling as Mel came back into the room.

"So, I was wondering if you would like to take a look at the trace I pulled off the victim's clothes," Mel said to Grissom.

"Actually, I would. And maybe Catherine could go back over the file and interviews with you. Construct a time line of events before the body was found," Gil said. Catherine nodded. She was ahead of him on that piece. It wouldn't take long to complete the time line and go over the reports that had come in that morning.

Mel led Gil back to the lab and set him up with the trace and a small laboratory.

"I know this looks silly to you. Y'all probably have all kinds of great equipment in Vegas," she said.

"All the equipment in the world means nothing if you don't have the skill set. The first step is processing the scene. The second step is processing the evidence itself. Whether you have fancy equipment or not, the evidence gathering is number one," Gil said. He was surprised at how much evidence Mel had catalogued. Mel smiled, which was disconcerting to Gil. It totally changed the serious young woman's face. It was almost the same with Sara; when she smiled, genuinely smiled, it lit up her face and made her totally captivating. "Always back to Sara?" he thought to himself.

"Well, I'll go work with Catherine. We can meet back in here later," Mel said, and left Gil to his thoughts, which at the moment were still tinged with Sara. He physically shook his head to clear his thoughts and got to work.

He was surprised when Mel and Catherine came back through the lab door a little later.

"You finished already?" he asked.

"It's been a couple of hours," Catherine said. "I guess you've been lost in bug world," she said, smirking.

"Actually, I have been, and it's been interesting to say the least. I have identified pieces of mealworm, grasshopper and roach eggs, to name a few. And this," he said, holding up a slide, "is gypsum cement. I can't be sure, but I'm guessing. And gypsum cement is used to pre-form tunnels for ant colonies."

"So our vic was in an ant colony," Mel said.

"An ant colony that is man made and being maintained. This is not the detritus of a naturally foraging bullet ant colony. Someone is taking care of them," Gil finished, grinning. Catherine could feel the excitement from him. She wasn't sure if it was because this was a big clue in the case, or because Gil thought he might get to see the giant ant colony in person. Maybe it was both.

"We found something as well," Catherine said. "Victim died from lack of oxygen," she said.

"From the allergic reaction? Closed off his airway?" Gil asked.

"Yes, but carbon dioxide was in his blood. The allergic reaction would have probably killed him due to asphyxiation, but the carbon dioxide sped it along. Also, he had close to one hundred stings on his body, mostly his back and the back of his legs. Might be consistent with being face down."

"So, what about your time line?" Gil asked.

"Nothing really new there," Mel answered. "I am going to make some calls on the meal worms. If someone is feeding a large ant colony, they are probably having to buy a lot of feed."

"I am going to make some calls as well," Gil said. "I may have an idea on the carbon dioxide."

An hour later they were in Sheriff Doublon's office, laying what they had found out for him.

"Sir, Heff down at the feed store remembered putting Tern Fowler in contact with an online supply company for live meal worms. He also said Tern had been buying a special ant vitamin," Mel said. The sheriff was looking doubtful, but he continued listening.

"And the vic's brother said that he was going to talk to Tern the day before he was found dead. Mr. Fowler claims he never saw Ted Nelty the entire week before he died," Catherine added, reading from the time line she and Mel had constructed.

"We just want to go talk to him again," said Gil. "Would this Mr. Fowler have any connections in South America, or with any zoos?"

"No," said Sheriff Doublon. "No, Tern is a lifelong resident of Cherastowee County. He might have been gone during the Korean war, but otherwise he has always been here. Tern is not going to take kindly to Mel coming up there with two strangers. He is likely to get ruffled. It might be best if I go with you," said sheriff. He stood and buckled his gun belt. Gone was the jovial man Gil and Catherine had met earlier. In his place stood a man who meant business. Gil guessed that he could be an intimidating interrogator.

They all rode in the Suburban back up the mountain. Gil and the sheriff sat in the back seat.

"So why was our vic, Ted Nelty, going to talk to Tern Fowler?" asked Gil. He had not read the file as Catherine.

"Ted and his brother wanted to sell a piece of land adjoining Tern's. Tern was against it. Didn't want the folks from Atlanta building a bed and breakfast up here," said Mel. "He and Ted had words about it before. Ted wanted Tern to give a right of way across a piece of his property so that Ted's would have access by two roads. Make it more attractive to the buyers."

"I just have a hard time believing that Tern would intentionally kill someone," the sheriff said. He shook his head slowly. "I just don't think he would take it lightly."

"I take it you know Mr. Fowler," Gil asked. He wondered if the sheriff coming with them was such a good idea. He had been around buddy politics in Vegas too many times before. The sheriff looked at him cautiously.

"Dr. Grissom, I've lived in the county all of my life. For twenty years I've been sheriff. For fifteen years before that, I was a deputy and then a detective. I am either related to or I know someone in just about every family here. And I've probably arrested someone in just about every family," he smiled grimly.

"That must be tough," Catherine said from the front seat. Even in Vegas, each of the CSI's had been involved in cases that questioned their objectivity. How would it be if you knew everyone involved?

"Yeah. The toughest arrest I ever made came after the funeral of a woman I had known all my life. Went to school with her brothers – hell, fought with one in Vietnam. Her boy dated my daughter briefly in high school.

"So I went to that funeral, and I went to her house afterwards. Waited for most of the family and friends to leave. Her husband came up to me outside, crying, asking me to find the SOB that put her in the ground. I just looked at him and said, 'We know who did it'. His tears dried right up, and I cuffed him. He used to sit two pews down from me in church. I could have sent one of my deputies to do it, but I felt it was my place."

Catherine wondered at this man. What would it be like to have someone in the office of sheriff who was this tough, who had this much integrity? She herself knew what it was like to see someone she liked and cared about proven guilty by the evidence. But she had taken the money anyway. She looked briefly at Gil, whose own eyes were unreadable. She wondered if he would ever forgive her for taking Sam's money.

"We're here," said Mel. They were at a small, neat brick house. The yard was landscaped just as neatly, the riotous colors held in check by mulch and landscaping timbers.

Tern Fowler had the front door open before they were even up on the small porch.

"Hey Jimmy. Good to see you," the man said cautiously, looking over Catherine and Gil. He looked to be around 65, though the file had him at 80 year old. His blue jeans were pressed and his short sleeved shirt starched. He had a John Deere baseball cap on his head. His work boots were aged and worn, but had recently been shined. "What you doing way up here?"

"Tern, this is Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows. They are helping us out with a case. We would like to ask you a few questions about Ted Nelty," the sheriff said. Fowler didn't look very happy about this prospective questioning.

"I've done told that girl deputy of yours that I didn't see him that week. Where is she, anyhow?" Tern asked, looking around the trio on his front porch.

"She'll be up here in a minute. We can either do this here, or you can travel back down the mountain with us," Sheriff Doublon said. Tern's shoulders slumped and he led them into his home.

"She better not be poking around my yard," he said tersely. "You know I got them beehives out back."

"Do you also have an ant colony, Mr. Fowler?" asked Gil. He was looking at a bottle of ant supplement sitting on the kitchen counter. Tern narrowed his eyes at Gil, then turned back to the sheriff.

"Jimmy, I ain't gonna be responsible if she gets stung by those bees out there," Tern said. He looked worriedly out the door they had just walked through.

Catherine looked at a small, framed plaque in the dining room.

"You retired from the University?" she asked. "Did you ever work for the Entomology department?"

They were interrupted by a loud banging at the back door. They could hear Mel yelling.

"Open that door Tern," the sheriff ordered. Tern rushed to do so, and Mel practically fell into the door, holding her arm.

"One of the little bastards got me," she said. She grimaced, clearly in pain. "They weren't kidding when they called it a Bullet Ant," she said. Tern was visibly upset.

"Are you allergic to any insect bites?" he asked. He rushed back into the kitchen. The sheriff had his hand to his gun. Catherine suddenly wished she had her own piece.

"No," said Mel. "And only one stung me. A few got out though," she said. Tern came back with a bottle of Benadryl. He tossed it to Gil.

"Give her the maximum dose. It'll help with the reaction to the poison, and it'll make her groggy, which helps with the pain. We need to get her to the ER," he said. Gil and Catherine looked at each other in shock.

They bounded into the Suburban, the sheriff at the wheel and Tern riding shotgun. Gil and Catherine had Mel between them in the back. She was getting extremely groggy from the high dose of antihistamine.

"Tern, I swear to God if anything happens to that girl, I will personally kick your sorry wrinkled ass," the sheriff growled. To everyone's surprise, the old man began to cry and sobbed silently the rest of the way down the mountain.

The sheriff didn't want to leave Mel at the ER alone, even though the Benadryl had knocked her out. The doctors assured him that she would be kept under observation, though she was not showing any signs of allergic reaction. The sheriff had called another deputy to come and sit with Mel. He was under strict orders to call when she came to.

Now he and Gil were in a small interrogation room with Tern. Catherine was in the even smaller room behind the glass. She had the cell phone in case someone called about Mel.

"Now, Tern, despite what I said earlier about kicking your ass, I want you to know you can have a lawyer if you want it," the sheriff said. Tern just shook his head.

"No, Jimmy. I never meant for any of this to happen," the old man said quietly. "I am just glad that girl is OK. She dated my one of my grandson's before she went into the Marines. She's tough, a lot tougher than I would have thought and I've never been a fan of women in law enforcement," he said.

"She's a good deputy, Tern," the sheriff said stiffly. "You know I wouldn't let her do the job if she wasn't capable. I wouldn't let anybody do this job if they weren't capable."

"I know that, Jimmy. Look, I'm just gonna start at the beginning. Then you can do whatever the hell you want. But I'll say it again – I never meant for anyone to get hurt." The man rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You know, Sarah died before I even got to retire. We had all these plans – plans that didn't mean anything after she was gone. How did I let the time get away from me?"

Gil was looking at the old man, struck. He thought about the Sara in his life. How did the time get away from us? He inadvertently looked through the mirror to where he knew Catherine was standing.

Catherine stood on the other side, wondering if anything would ever prompt Gil to action. Everyone deserved a life outside of the lab. Did he even get that? Did he understand that everyone but him and Sara had someone, something outside of CSI? And Sara was getting her act back together, it seemed. She would be moving on before long, and Gil would be too late.

"I had worked in the Ag department at the college forever. But I've always been interested in insects and arachnids. I was fascinated by them as a kid. Had bee hives and those little ant farms for the kids when they were younger," Tern was saying. Gil turned back to him, understanding at least the beginning of the story. "In Ag, all I seemed to do was kill insects, so when I got a chance to work with the Entomolgy department some, it seemed like a good thing. Sara had been gone about 3 months, and I needed a change. Plus, it would keep me from having to retire. The Ag department was cutting out some of the maintenance personnel.

"This professor had captured a 500 plus bullet ant colony in Costa Rica. He had it back in Clemson and had a pretty nice set up. Wanted to do some research, whatever. But he was going to a conference during Christmas break. Some of the grad students were supposed to be taking care of the ants. Bullet ants take a lot of maintenance – temperature gradients, nectar, and they get tired of eating the same kind of live prey – you have to vary it," Tern was visibly more relaxed once he started talking about the ants.

"You know an awful lot of the bullet ants," Gil said, partially impressed by the man in front of him. A man who, according to the dossier, hadn't finished past the tenth grade.

"I made some calls, read a lot of papers. Bullet ants are tricky to keep going. So, you can imagine when I decided to check in on the colony one day and half were dead. I just went by on a whim. I liked to look at them.

"Anyway, the grad students hadn't been keeping up with nectar supply. Water supply was dry. And right there I decided the stupid SOB's didn't deserve to try and save the ants. I packed up what remained of the colony. Thankfully, the queen was still alive, and some of the larvae. I took everything out to the truck and brought it home. Told the professor that they had all died. I'll never forget the cussing he had given those grad students. I felt a might bad, but then again, had I not found them, the ants would have all been dead.

"It's funny, but bringing them home made the house not so empty. I kept thinking that Sarah would have killed me, but she was gone. I also kept thinking that the professor was going to catch on, and I was going to get fired. I never did. Just retired five years ago, like planned. Of course, by that time I had built the underground chamber that the girl deputy found." Tern looked relieved to finally be telling the secret he had been keeping for so long.

"Five years. How long have you had this colony? I don't think Cincinatti even had their colony going until about ten years ago," said Gil incredulously. However, everything Tern was saying had been confirmed a little while earlier by a colleague over the phone. The local university had a failed giant ant colony about the same time Cincinatti had gotten one started.

"I've had it at the house about 6 years," Tern said, smilingly a little at his accomplishment. "I never even got stung. Sarah always said I was a bee charmer. I guess it applied to ants as well."

"So what about Ted Nelty? How did he end up stung by the ants?" the sheriff asked, gently. Tern winced and hung his head sorrowfully.

"That stupid Nelty boy. Kept aggravating the tar out of me about an access way to the main road. All so he could sell that land to some hoity-toity couple from Atlanta. That land has been in his family for generations! I lied to that girl when I said I hadn't seen him all week," Tern admitted.

"We figured that," Sheriff Doublon said.

"Mr. Fowler, I can tell from the evidence on Mr. Nelty's clothes that he was actually inside the ant colony. He also had carbon dioxide in his system. I think I know how, but maybe you could explain it to me," Gil said. He tried to be as gentle as possible. More and more he didn't think this man had intentionally put Ted Nelty's in harm's way.

"OK. Ted had come by. He was obnoxious and disrespectful, so I told him to get off my property. I was walking out to the back field, where I keep the hives for sourwood honey. He stopped and noticed the carbon dioxide bottles behind the shed. He asked me what they were for. I said paintball, and then I told him again to leave. He acted like he was going to, so I walked on out to the back field to check on my hives.

"When I came back, it was time for me to vacuum out the colony. I do it about one every week or so. I get rid of any waste and check everything out. Well, I turned on the carbon dioxide for a few minutes. It induces narcosis, briefly, in the ants. I put on a little scuba mask and small tank I got at the flea market. That way I can go in and clean up quickly while the ants are coming out of their little nap. Keeps us all safe.

"I get in there and Ted Nelty is covered up. I don't know what that little bastard thought. He must have traced the carbon dioxide tank lines to the covering I have over the chamber. It looks like an old well house. He just got too curious. Why he felt like he had a right to go snooping around, I'll never know." Tern took a break from talking and looked down for a minute. Gil and the sheriff looked at each other, wondering where to go now.

"Tern, how did you get Ted Nelty's body over to Lancaster's field, where we found him," the sheriff asked.

"I got him out of the chamber. He was already a goner. Some people have allergic reactions, and he had been stung bunches. I got all of the ants off of him and I laid him out in the shed until well after midnight. Then I drove out to the field. Parked with my lights off and carried him into the field. Laid him out.

"I hoped everyone would just think he had gotten into a nest of yellow jackets. I just didn't want anyone to find out about my pets. I never meant for anyone to get hurt," Tern said again. The old man was crying softly.

Catherine stepped in quietly.

"Mel has regained conciousness at the hospital," she said to the men.


	5. Finis

1

Chapter Five

Sheriff Doublon and Grissom sat in the sheriff's office. The sheriff had pulled a bottle of Gentleman Jack out of his desk. He set two jelly jar glasses in front of the Vegas visitor and poured two fingers of the smooth, brown liquor in each.

"Sheriff," Gil said in respect and raised his glass in a salute. He felt a little odd drinking liquor out of a small glass that was labeled "Bama Grape Jelly" and had an illustration of a dinosaur on the back. It was labeled as 2 of 6 in the collection. "Collect all 6!"

"Please, call me Jimmy," the sheriff said, raising his own glass, number 5 of the collection. Gil briefly wondered if the other jelly jars were at the sheriff's home.

"You know, back in Las Vegas I often have drinks with another Jim. I believe you would have a lot in common," Gil said.

"I'll take that as a compliment. I really appreciate your help in this matter. Though I can't help but think that it might have been easier all around if we had just continued thinking this was a case of allergic reaction to yellow jackets. Once Mel noticed the lividity was off, we couldn't ignore it." He looked at the clock and sighed, pouring himself another two fingers of whiskey.

"She's very smart. Whether I had come up here to identify the ant or not, she would have figured this out," Gil said. "I could use someone like her in Vegas."

"Yeah, Mel's a pit bull when it comes to this stuff. She's always coming to me with seminars or journals. She has a lot of good ideas. If I could get it into the budget, would you mind if she came out to Vegas sometime? Rode with your crew and learned more about what true CSI's do?" Jimmy asked. Gil nodded.

"I would be glad to let her come out. It is not unheard of for us to bring CSI from other areas into our lab," he said, thinking particularly of one who had come and stayed. "She's very young, isn't she? She tries hard to be thought of as older and one of the deputies, but in the end, she is very young and very alone." The sheriff looked chagrinned at Gil's words.

"Mel went into the Marines right out of high school. By the time the Iraqi war rolled around, she went as part of Logistics. Now, officially, women in the Army and Marines are not in combat, but the Marines started using females to help put the Iraqi women at ease. Mel and the company she was with got attacked. She took a bullet in the thigh. Didn't know if she would walk again." Gil was clearly surprised by all of this. Jimmy poured more whiskey in both the glasses and continued.

"Mel comes stateside and works until she does walk again. She even took up bodybuilding for a while. By this time, she was out of the Marines. She applied for a deputy position. We don't usually take kids right into riding the roads. Most of my boys have already been city cops in one of the small towns in the county. So I took Mel because she had been a Marine, and she had been in combat. But I put her on dispatch at first."

"I can imagine she didn't take that too well," Gil said.

"Hell no. Bristled every time I walked by - she was always respectful, but like I said, Mel is a pit bull, and she has that same feel, like domestication is just a facade. So I finally let her ride with some of the other deputies after she finished the academy.

"One case I let her ride out with me. Small boy had been killed in his own yard. It looked like the family pet, a Rottweiler, had attacked him. Tore his throat out. But the detective kept coming back to the fact that there was no blood on the ground. On the boy, yes. On the dog, yes, but no blood on the ground. And the dog was chained up. Detective wanted to haul the parents in for questioning, especially since the mother had found the child, got a shotgun, and killed the dog.

"While I talked to the detective, she started walking the scene, checked out everything. She went over to the child's body, and she squats down, and I could swear she was talking to herself. The detective sees this and freaks out. Tells her to get her punk, dike bitch out of his crime scene. I told him to watch his mouth. He's a good detective, but he had been investigating the child abuse cases for a while. Gets to you. I transferred him shortly after that. So I walk over to Mel, and I say, 'If you puke on his crime scene, you will never live it down, and I won't give you a month of this bunch before you quit.' She looked at me real thoughtful and said, 'Autopsy the dog.' I just looked at her. 'The dog licked up the blood,' she said." Jimmy shook his head in remembrance.

"She was right," said Gil.

"Became the first female to work solo," Jimmy said.

"So what now Sheriff? Jimmy. What are you going to do about Tern Fowler?" Gil asked. Jimmy scowled.

"That's something I'm going to pray about. I don't think the DA would even prosecute, so why arrest him? That's why I sent him home with the deputy escort. I don't know what I am going to do yet."

"But the truth," protested Gil.

"The truth?" said Jimmy. "You ever watch Kurosawa's 'Ramadan'? Don't look so surprised. Even hicks get the Independent Film Channel," the sheriff grinned. Gil tried to look abashed at being so surprised with the sheriff's reference to Kurosawa. He barely succeeded

"Yes. I've seen it."

"Then you know, even the dead do not tell an undeniable truth. It's always subjective, and that is something that 35 years in this uniform have proven."

"I am a scientist, Jimmy. My only faith is that the truth trumps all."

"Well, Gil, Faith is for religion. Faith is believing truth with no evidence," Jimmy said. Gil wondered if it was the Gentleman Jack, but he couldn't quite refute the man's words.

At the same time, Catherine was chatting with Mel in the younger woman's small trailer. She was in good spirits, though her arm was hurting her fiercely.

"I do appreciate you and Dr. Grissom coming up here," Mel said again, for what must have been the thirtieth time. Catherine rolled her eyes.

"I have confidence you would have figured it out. You seem to be pretty sharp, Mel Lawrence." Catherine's eye was drawn to Mel's arm. The girl's bicep was impressive, even with the sting location wrapped by the ER personnel. Right above the bandage was a small tattoo that read "Semper Fi". "You were a Marine?" Cat asked.

"Not were. Am. You know, 'Once a Marine, Always a Marine.' I've been out about two years. Been a deputy for a year."

"How long you been body building?"

"About three years. Almost went competitive, but I like eating too much. And I have way to much in the way of ass and boobs," Mel said. Catherine laughed out loud. "May I ask how you got into investigating?" she asked Catherine.

"Well, I was a stripper. Really." Mel eyes were wide in surprise. "Believe it or not, it's a fairly respectable business in Las Vegas, at least, where I worked. Anyway, one of the regulars was a CSI. He was in love with my best friend, another girl there. He used to quiz me with riddles from his cases. He said I had a knack. So, when that same best friend was killed near the club, I decided a change was in order. He got me set up with a job in the lab, and I worked my way into being a CSI."

"Sounds like a degree from the school of hard knocks," Mel said.

"You sound like you might be a fellow graduate. I must warn you though, I have the doctoral degree, especially when it comes to men," Catherine said, and laughed it off. Lately though, she had been in a bit of a dry spell. She was getting older, and the idea of being alone once Lindsey was grown and off to college scared her. She wouldn't admit it to anyone. Ever since she and Nick had investigated the doctor who advised women to drink their own urine as the fountain of youth, she had been well aware of the lines that were accumulating on her face. Sara had once accused her of overusing her sexuality. What if it were true? And what if she couldn't rely on her looks any more?

"I don't have a degree in men. But career wise, I am working towards it." Mel said, and Catherine thought she was a little wistful.

"Mel, take my advice. Don't become the job. I have a friend who is missing out on what could be the love of a lifetime because of career. In the end, you will retire, and you'll find you have nothing left."

"Nothing but a lifetime of knowing you did what was right," Mel returned. "Sorry Catherine, but when it comes to risking being the job, or being some goober head's good time, I think I'll choose the job. I just, I don't relate well to people," she continued. "I can look at evidence and analyze, but when it comes to dealing with others, I am lacking. So maybe it is better that I don't risk what I know I am good at."

Catherine had never thought of it that way.

"I am glad we came here Mel. You need to make a trip out to Vegas some time. I am sure you would find it informative," Catherine said, gathering her things to go pick up Gil.

The next day both Gil and Catherine were quiet during the ride back to Atlanta. Gil was thinking about the colony of ants, and how one man's quest to end his own loneliness ended another man's life. He wondered what decision Jimmy would make.

Catherine was thinking about how well the lab seemed to have gotten along without her. What was next for her? What was next for Gil? All of them?

"You should just bite the bullet," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Gil asked. Sometimes Catherine finished her internal conversations aloud.

"You should bite the bullet and go out with Sara. Before it's too late," she said, turning to look at him and evaluate the effect her words had on him.

"It may already be too late. Besides, I am not brave like you," Gil said. "I can't risk everything for something that might not be."

"I don't risk everything. How big of a risk is it, really?" Catherine said. Gil was incredulous.

"When are you going to realize that all actions have consequences, whether they are personal or professional? And to mix the two is dangerous," Gil huffed.

"When are you going to realize that you are going to end up like Tern Fowler, with nothing but bugs, and at least he has memories of his Sarah." Catherine immediately regretted what she said.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, she couldn't stand it.

"I'm sorry."

"For what? You said what you meant. And it's not the first time. You are never afraid to bite the bullet Catherine. But sometimes it will explode in your mouth," Gil answered. He was still pissed. He had that tone that Catherine thought of as "Gil's pissy old woman voice".

"Truce. I won't hassle you about Sara. I just want to see you happy," she said, because it was true.

"Yeah, and your love life has made you so happy, I know." It was Gil's turn to be hurtful. "That came out different than I intended," he apologized.

"So let's change the subject," she offered. Gil took her offering, and they moved to different subjects for the rest of the trip to Vegas. They had quarreled before, but they had always been OK afterwards. This time, it felt a little forced, and they were worried.

It was with relief that they reached the lab. Gil helped Catherine place her luggage into her own vehicle.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she said, still wishing for everything to be OK. He was her oldest friend.

"Yeah. Thanks again for going with me to Cherastowee," he said, and he meant it. He could always count on Catherine in a pinch.

"Well, I was going to surprise you, but I got a copy of that Hummingbird cake recipe from the sheriff before we left. So if you are really good, I might find the time to make it." She got into her SUV and drove off. Gil waved belatedly.

"I hope she lets her sister bake it," Gil thought to himself, and walked into the lab, not quite ready to face his empty house. To his surprise, Sara was in the break room, drinking coffee and looking over a case file. "Bite the bullet," he murmured to himself. His legs felt like lead and he seemed rooted to the spot.

"Hey Grissom. How was Atlanta?" Sophia said behind him. The moment gone, Gil turned and spoke with her for a moment. When he turned, Sara was talking animatedly with Greg. She looked up and waved lightly. Greg did the same. Grissom nodded his head, and turned towards his office.

He wanted to make some calls and find out whether the Vegas zoo would take a bullet ant colony that was in need of a new home.


End file.
